Creating Inside and Out

Today has been a day of loose ends. I have been completing several projects and trying to figure out how to put a calendar onto my blog, www.dianeclancy.com/blog, without dominating the blog. But I did get outside and take my walk.

Inside and Out, Pastel © Diane Clancy

I was just going to share the above, but then I realized this is too good an opportunity to miss for talking about the creation of this image. I can tell a whole lot of people at once - if I am lucky!

I painted this while I was in school. Our teacher, Michael Coblyn, had us go into a dark room with our pastels, a slide projector and a model. Michael Coblyn shined a slide on the wall with the model standing in front. In the dark we had 2 - 3 minuters to paint with pastel.

Then he flashed a second slide on the model for 2 - 3 minutes. We went back and forth between the 2 slides many times. We had to pick and choose between the different views we saw with the 2 slides to create one coherent image.

Since then I have been meaning to try the technique using a 3D computer model and figuring out how to shine slides onto the 3D model. But it hasn’t reached the top of the list yet … will it ever?

But, in the meantime, I am delighted to have this image. Thank you for looking at it with me and learimg about my creative process.

- Diane Clancy

Bambi in Flowers II

I sell my cards at the local Visitors Center - we are a tourist area. This area is geographically gorgeous and full of artists. People from Boston and New York City come and look at the prices that artists are selling our artwork for and they pull out their check books.

Bambi in Flowers II, Digital © Diane Clancy

The going price for artwork is much higher in the cities and often the people who travel can afford to take home beautiful paintings and quilts and sculptures and photographs. There are a lot of beautiful items that almost anyone can afford also! We in the area are working on building the creative economy in Franklin County.

The staff at the Visitors Center told me that the tourists want cards with deer and bears on them. So, I thought I would give it a try to see if my version of Bambi would be enjoyed enough by people to take Bambi home with them.

~ Diane Clancy

Flowers XI

In honor of full summer in New England, eastern U.S, here is a display of flowers for you! I hope you are enjoying your summer or winter, depending on where you are. I feel so much lighter with the sun and warmth. I want my artwork to help others feel uplifted like the weather is helping me.

Flowers XI, Digital © Diane Clancy

I had a lot of fun with this creative process of making this digital painting by choosing flowers in pinks and purples and putting them all together. These colors make me happy!

These are really more spring flowers I think. A friend mentioned to me how spring is a lot about “allowing” - allowing the energy of the season to carry one upward, like the flowers pushing up through the dirt to blossom. I am ready for some allowing and blossoming!

Thanks for stopping by and smelling the flowers!

~ Diane Clancy

Memory

I love working with actual, physical, paint. There is something so satisfying about using physical paints (as opposed to digital paints.) This is another painting from my goddess series with, obviously, the double-face theme. For one of my friends, this is her absolute favorite image of all my artwork.

Memory, Acrylic © Diane Clancy

This creative process has an interesing origin. A long time ago, I stumbled on this image of double eyes and faces from fooling around with early digital equipment.

I found out that if I moved my my head one way while photographing myself with the video equipment, my face became a series of peaks. Moving my face in the other direction, made my face stretch out. I still have the orginal printout that I made into a grid. Sometime I will scan it and show you.

Even though it’s beginning came from a mistake (or divine inspiration), I have found this to be a powerful motif that is worth repeating again and again.

Each person seems to have their own interpretation of this idea. In my experience, people are often sure that their sense of the double faces is what I intended. To me, that seems to indicate that I have tapped into a deep inner connection that speaks loudly for many.

I find myself mesmerized by these double faces. There is a way that I feel “feed” on a soul level. I feel connected to me deep inside.

~ Diane Clancy